Ashley Cooper-Comprehending Fiction: "Feelings Change" Timeline Strategy

I found this strategy looking through "The Reading Strategies Book" that a friend is using in her first-grade classroom.  This is a great strategy to use when teaching character traits. You could first use the strategy in a whole group setting where the teacher reads a book and then they discuss as a class the character and how their feelings changed throughout the book. The teacher should model on the board how to use a "feelings timeline" to show the character's feelings at different points throughout the book. You could then have the students do their own Feelings Change timeline after reading a book independently or do it in a small group setting. I loved that this strategy is able to be used from kindergarten (where they could simply draw pictures alone) to the upper elementary grades (where they can draw a picture but also write a sentence or two describing the feeling or why the character feels that way). 

This strategy doesn't require any materials, simply the book that is being used and a "timeline" paper that would already need to be drawn for young ages but older grades could draw their own.  First, the teacher would read the book and have students listen closely (and use picture clues) for how the character is feeling.  Then the teacher could read it again while having the students fill in different feelings throughout the story.  The teacher would then allow time for the students to finish and look back in the book if needed.  I believe this is a great strategy that students of all ages would enjoy, especially in the world today full of emojis.  This is a fun strategy that also ensures students are comprehending and noticing changes within a text. 

Resource:
Serravallo, Jennifer (2015). The reading strategies book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. ISBN: 032507433X